Rico | Mural of a Refugee, a Song for Palestine (Sono Cairo, 1967)

 

Palestinian refugee postage stamp from previous owner

The genocide in Palestine is neither new nor surprising. 

It is deeply horrific. 

We're not here to preach; anyone interested in this blog already knows the score. (But, just in case.)

This protest record, released in (we believe) 1967, features music by Egyptian composer Taha al-Ugayl and English-language lyrics by Jordanian politician and then Minister of Information and Culture Salah Abu Zeid. 

According to this website, Zeid co-founded and was the first to broadcast on Jordanian Radio. He later became the Jordanian Ambassador to Great Britain (watch this video) and, according to this website, may have been imprisoned for a time for misuse of funds.

The original cover (image taken from Discogs)

Who the singer Rico is or was is a mystery.

What is clear is that Israel has been playing a long game of erasure as ghastly as the holocaust, the Armenian genocide, and the slavery of Africans and genocide of Native Americans right here at home. The Arab world has been trying to tell us this for more than half a century -- it's possibly why, for instance, this record is in English.

When will we finally have ears to hear?

(Listen to "Mural of a Refugee")